June 27, 2014 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

The Water Well Trust, a national nonprofit helping Americans get access to a clean, safe water supply, has broken ground on its second project in Georgia. The existing water infrastructure is failing in Ben Hill County where the project is taking place, and the county cannot afford the estimated $600,000 for repairs.

Breaking ground on the first of eight water wells provided by the Water Well Trust. Credit: PRNewsFoto/Water Well Trust

Enter the Water Well Trust.

In 2013, the Water Well Trust completed a successful project in Jones County, Georgia, partnering with county government and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to bring safe drinking water to five low-income families near Milledgeville, Ga. Based on the success of that project, the Georgia DCA, which provided community development block grant funds for the Jones County project, recommended the Water Well Trust to provide a more economical solution for supplying 12 rural households with a safe water supply.

"With mounting costs associated with replacing aging infrastructure nationwide, it is imperative that local communities weigh all options when developing plans for providing new water supplies and assessing existing water service delivery," said Steve Anderson, chairman of the Water Well Trust. "Choosing wells to provide drinking water in lieu of requiring households to connect to expensive centralized systems can save federal, state and local governments millions of dollars."

For the Ben Hill County project, the Water Well Trust is providing financing for drilling eight new wells, which will serve 12 owner-occupied homes. The county is covering the cost to drill wells for two area churches and five rental homes owned by the churches that are located in the same area.

The total cost of the project is $81,200, with $51,200 supplied by the Water Well Trust and $30,000 by the county, saving Ben Hill County $518,500. The National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation awarded the Water Well Trust $10,000 for the project.

The project is expected to be completed in July 2014.

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